Director and screenwriter John Ridley has opened up about the scrapped Eternals television show he was making for Marvel and ABC.
While appearing on the Comic Book Club Podcast (via Deadline), Ridley delved into his version of Eternals and the peculiar opening scenes that would have been in the pilot episode.
“It’s not in the works anymore,” Ridley explained. “It was a television version of The Eternals … But good … My version was the good version. It was so f—ing weird. There was my version, a good version, which is good to me, which — that doesn’t mean anything. There was the version that [Marvel] ended up doing, which I don’t think … that version was particularly good. I’ll be honest.
“My version started with, the first thing you see is a young man, probably about 18 years old. And he’s sitting there. He’s sitting there for a moment. And then he lifts his hands. He has a drill in it. And he turns the drill on. And he puts the drill to his ear. And he starts pushing it in. And then it goes from there. That’s the start, right? That’s how it starts. And then I think you see … another kid … He sleeps in the bathtub, covers himself with foil. It’s just a really weird story about these people who are, I mean, it’s just weird.”
Ridley then noted that his version of Eternals falling through was likely “the best thing to happen for everybody,” as he didn’t know if “it would have been entertaining.”
When did the Eternals movie come out?
Eternals first debuted in theaters on November 5, 2021. It was directed by Oscar and Golden Globe winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland). It was co-written by Matthew K. Firpo and Ryan Firpo and produced by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. Eternals is currently streaming on Disney+.
